1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to blood pressure monitoring devices. More specifically, the invention hereof relates to a computer mouse controller which incorporates a blood pressure finger cuff for monitoring blood pressure and transmitting measured data to the computer with which the mouse is associated. Such data is then displayed on the display of the computer to provide an easily understood representation of the measured parameters.
2. Background Art
Hypertension is one of modern society's most insidious diseases. Left untreated, it causes life-threatening problems including atherosclerosis, strokes and aneurysms. Long-term hypertension can result in diminished cardiovascular and kidney function. Yet while high blood pressure is one of the simplest problems to detect in an entirely non-invasive process, it is all too commonly undetected in a large portion of the population. In the past twenty years or so, with the advent of low-cost microprocessor chips and miniature digital electronics and electromagnetic devices, the self-measurement of blood pressure by non-medical personnel has become more readily available. Nevertheless, blood pressure sphygmomanometers are still too sophisticated for a large segment of the population. Even those who are entirely capable of operating such devices tend to put them away in drawers and other out of the way places where they often remain mostly forgotten and unused.
It would be highly advantageous to the early detection of hypertension and thus to the general health of the population if there were a way to provide prolific availability of blood pressure monitoring devices that were readily accessible and even easier to use than currently available digital sphygmomanometers. Having a blood pressure sphygmomanometer at virtually every computer with a pressure cuff always immediately adjacent to each such computer, would go a long way to serving such an advantageous function. Such is the purpose of the present invention.